07 | October | 2013 | Thoughts, Tales, and Whatnot

My first visit to Hong Kong’s Ocean Park was in 2010, but I decided to come back to capture my memories on photos since all the photos from my first visit went down the drain when my first laptop crashed.

Getting Here
From Tsuen Wan MRT, which was walking distance from our hotel, we disembarked at the Admiralty Station to board the 629 bus that dropped us off directly at the Waterfront Entrance of Ocean Park.

Ticket Price
It was a Sunday when we went there so tickets were pricier. One adult day pass ticket cost me HK$ 280.

Waterfront City
Leading up to the entrance was the Ocean Square, which had funny-looking water creatures spouting water.

Aqua City Lagoon
These views greeted us right after we entered the park. I don’t remember this from my 2010 visit so this must be new.

Lakeside Snacks

Since we were already hungry, my friend and I decided to have brunch at the Lakeside Snacks. I ordered Baked Spaghetti Bolognese, which was very cheesy, the way I want my spaghetti. Too bad the pasta was overcooked.

Grand Aquarium
According to Ocean Park’s website, their Grand Aquarium has the world’s largest aquarium dome at 5.5m in diameter, with a 13m wide acrylic viewing panel.

Here is a photo collage of some of the fishes that I found interesting. This list includes the Yellow Tang, Clownfish, and the venomous Lionfish (pardon my not identifying the rest, as I’m not really very familiar with fishes and only googled the earlier information).

Did you notice the thick-lipped gray fish on the right side/middle portion? I pitied it since when it swam into people’s view, they laughed at how “ugly” he was. Poor fellow.

And here’s a collage of some of the interesting water creatures that reside at the Grand Aquarium.

I can only identify the giant squid, sting ray, starfish, and lobster.

And inside the Grand Aquarium were jelly fish tanks. Named Sea Jelly Spectacular, this features over 1,000 sea jellies floating to the latest technology in lighting, music and multimedia special effects.

I don’t know what these are called, but they’re pretty interesting. They’re containers made of glasses in different shapes with different facets, – much like a diamond – thus changing the view depending on where the viewer looks.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasure
One of the highlights of this stay was seeing a panda. S/he (sorry, I don’t know the gender) was just sooo adorable!

This was not the first I saw a panda (the first was again in 2010), but my reaction was still the same: awe, because it just looked so cute. And unlike in 2010 when the panda slept like a rock, this one was very active and even munched on some bamboo while we watched.

Amazing Asian Animals
We again saw a panda here. Interestingly, we also saw a red panda, but he was sleeping so I took just one photo. There was a turtle too.

Doesn’t the red panda look like a fox?

Goldfish Treasures
This pavilion features the latest and rarest varieties of goldfish like the Black Oranda.

There were koi fishes in a pond too.

Emerald Trail
Emerald Trail features flowers, tall trees, stone bridges and gentle pools. We saw a snake and turtles too.

Old Hong Kong

This offers a glimpse into Hong Kong’s history, though we were not able to experience it, and I only took the photos while lining up for the cable car (the line was looong, and we queued for maybe 30 minutes, maybe more).

Cable Car Experience
Again, not a first experience for me. Still, I always find it interesting to take photos of cable cars suspended above ground.

Hair Raiser
In 2010, after getting quite a scare from the Raging River, my friend and I contented ourselves with just the safe rides e.g. the cable car. This year, I dared myself to push the limit. Thankfully, my friend (a different one from my 2010 visit) was a willing participant so we rode the Hair Raiser and though it was one heck of a ride, we had fun!

Our experience was hair-raising indeed, considering that this is Hong Kong’s first and only floorless roller coaster (and the fastest too!) and riders are plunged towards the South China Sea with their legs dangling in the air!

The Flash
While still reeling from our Hair Raiser ride, or perhaps emboldened by it, my friend and I decided to try the Flash, a ride that spins the riders up to 22 metres (72 ft) into the air, and rotates at a full 360°.

If I must say so, this was even scarier than the hair raiser because at one point, we were hanged upside down!

Pacific Pier
This is where the seals and sea lions are, and we were lucky that it was feeding time when we got there.

The pier was also built in a way that allows visitors to walk under it and view these seals and sea lions in the water.

Raging River Fastfood
Now hungry from our adventures, my friend and I decided it’s time for some snacks. We bought a pack of dried squid and the Snack ‘n Cooler, which is basically just coke with fries, but in a specially made container attached to the coke cup. Cool.

Space Wheel
Our last ride for the day was the Space Wheel, which whirls passengers around at high speed, gradually rising and tilting for an even more exciting experience. Ocean Park’s website claims that this ride accelerates at speeds that defy Earth’s gravity, and simulates what real astronauts undergo during high-G training!

Though not as scary as the Hair Raiser or the Flash, this ride was the most dizzying due to the whirring motions that we had to go through.

South Pole Spectacular
We started our Polar Adventure here, and saw over 70 penguins from three species, including king penguins, the world’s second largest penguin, southern rockhopper penguins, one of the tiniest penguins on Earth and white-bonneted, gentoo penguins, which sport unusual colored eye markings.

North Pole Encounter
This is where two pacific walruses reside.

This too has and underwater tunnel.

Then it was time to leave, but before leaving, I snapped some photos of the Aqua City Lagoon at night. This time, it looked more beautiful because of the water’s different colors.